Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 11

Thread: What is the accounting software for me to use?

  1. #1
    Gold Member Mark Atkinson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    796
    Thanks
    212
    Thanked 150 Times in 117 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12

    What is the accounting software for me to use?

    Ok, so I would just like to know what the best solution for my immediate accounting woes are.

    I own a copy of Paste Xpress Start-up, and I am currently running an advanced version of Quickbooks. My problem is that I want something simple that deals well with a partnership in the professional services industry.

    From what I could see, Pastel Xpress Startup doesn't give the facility to do partner equity and drawings accounts? I can't afford to pay for Pastel Partner.

    Has anybody found a simple solution that is free or really cheap?

    I'm currently studying towards a CA (2nd year) so I do have accounting knowledge, but not enough to deal with all these complex programs.

    Simple, free/cheap and effective is what I'm looking for. I don't need a ton of reports either. Income Statement and Balance sheet is all that's really required for a partnership. Also need to deal with partner accounts.

    Suggestions?

  2. #2
    Silver Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Jhb
    Posts
    203
    Thanks
    6
    Thanked 38 Times in 28 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Atkinson View Post
    Ok, so I would just like to know what the best solution for my immediate accounting woes are.

    I own a copy of Paste Xpress Start-up, and I am currently running an advanced version of Quickbooks. My problem is that I want something simple that deals well with a partnership in the professional services industry.

    From what I could see, Pastel Xpress Startup doesn't give the facility to do partner equity and drawings accounts? I can't afford to pay for Pastel Partner.

    Has anybody found a simple solution that is free or really cheap?

    I'm currently studying towards a CA (2nd year) so I do have accounting knowledge, but not enough to deal with all these complex programs.

    Simple, free/cheap and effective is what I'm looking for. I don't need a ton of reports either. Income Statement and Balance sheet is all that's really required for a partnership. Also need to deal with partner accounts.

    Suggestions?
    As long as you can create a general ledger account for each partner equity account and each partner's drawings account, you shouldn't have an issue.

    I'm not aware of any entry level type software that automatically does the splits ... it's all in the manual journal entries.

    I used Fincon accounting, and that is a high end software, and aside from maybe a module add on ... equity's, drawings, etc were processed by manual journal entries.

    If you want a strong scalable free accounting package, maybe look at Nola Pro ... but be warned, it is rather complex and I never took the time to get my head around it because it was bigger then what I needed at the time.

    You could also look at Turbocash, I used that when I had a partnership ... but once again, all based on journal entries and custom created ledger accounts.

    Perhaps give Pastel a call, speak to a consultant, tell them you have express and you would like to create multiple equity accounts.

    I'm assuming you don't need each user to log in under their own username ... because then you would need Pastel Express to give you up to 3 users (users that can create invoices, etc ... this still would not do the equity split)

    Goodluck for your degree, I'm almost complete with honours ... believe myself and your lecturers when they say study hard ... never put your own company above studying for your degree ... I made that mistake ... ONCE!!
    If you need any Accounting, Tax or even Financial Management advice, PM me and I'll try help and keep your information confidential.

    Visit my Android ZA website - a website dedicated to Google Android in South Africa - www.androidza.co.za

  3. #3
    Gold Member Mark Atkinson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    796
    Thanks
    212
    Thanked 150 Times in 117 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    Hmmm... Great food for thought. Thanks!

    Chances are I will stick to Quickbooks for the time being. It does allow for journal entries but it already has a function to transfer to partner equity/drawings accounts. The only problem with it is that it's US-based! Which is fine, until tax implications arise. Not being a VAT vendor, I'm not too concerned for now.

    Just to be clear, and refresh my memory on partnership accounting, when is it that you distribute profits to partner equity accounts? At the end of the financial year? Can you do it every month?
    The way I'm working at the moment is I'm just recording Partner drawings as they arise, and am planning just to split my net profit at the end of the financial year and distribute it to partner equity. I think that's correct?

    I know that salaries go to partner equity accounts when they are declared. We do not use fixed salaries, though.

    Meh... I'm confusing myself...

  4. #4
    Silver Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Jhb
    Posts
    203
    Thanks
    6
    Thanked 38 Times in 28 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Atkinson View Post
    Hmmm... Great food for thought. Thanks!

    Chances are I will stick to Quickbooks for the time being. It does allow for journal entries but it already has a function to transfer to partner equity/drawings accounts. The only problem with it is that it's US-based! Which is fine, until tax implications arise. Not being a VAT vendor, I'm not too concerned for now.

    Just to be clear, and refresh my memory on partnership accounting, when is it that you distribute profits to partner equity accounts? At the end of the financial year? Can you do it every month?
    The way I'm working at the moment is I'm just recording Partner drawings as they arise, and am planning just to split my net profit at the end of the financial year and distribute it to partner equity. I think that's correct?

    I know that salaries go to partner equity accounts when they are declared. We do not use fixed salaries, though.

    Meh... I'm confusing myself...
    My step dad uses quickbooks with no issues ... remember, a basic accounting system won't calculate income tax because this is a complex calc, and you can adjust the percentages for VAT.

    Sho, it's been years since I did accounting for a partnership ... but if I remember correctly, what you said is right. Debit drawings to the account as it happens, salaries get credited to the account and Net Profit gets credited to the account at year end ... the balance of the remaining amount is paid to the partner if it's a credit.
    If you need any Accounting, Tax or even Financial Management advice, PM me and I'll try help and keep your information confidential.

    Visit my Android ZA website - a website dedicated to Google Android in South Africa - www.androidza.co.za

  5. #5
    Platinum Member sterne.law@gmail.com's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Durban
    Posts
    1,332
    Thanks
    38
    Thanked 566 Times in 413 Posts
    Blog Entries
    7
    I am a staunch quickbooks supporter and there is a reason it is the top selling accounting package in numerous countries.
    As to VAT, it does not matter what country wrote the software, you determine the VAT rates and when you set up items or charegs you then set the relevant VAT code. In our case 14% or 0%

    You can do a jourrnal entry and then memorize it, which will automate it. I us ethis method for Debit orders and my payroll where relevant (i.e consistent salaries)

    On distributing the profits - the tax perspective treats everything in financial periods. Some people prefer to do the distribution monthly while others do the yearly method. If there is interest on loan accounts and the distributions are different then monthly may be better. Because it does not effectively alter your bottom line or trading accounts it is probably neither here nor there (personal taxes may play a role though)
    Anthony Sterne

    www.acumenholdings.co.za
    DISCLAIMER The above is merely a comment in discussion form and an open public arena. It does not constitute a legal opinion or professional advice in any manner or form.

  6. #6
    Gold Member Mark Atkinson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    796
    Thanks
    212
    Thanked 150 Times in 117 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    Quote Originally Posted by sterne.law@gmail.com View Post
    You can do a jourrnal entry and then memorize it, which will automate it. I us ethis method for Debit orders and my payroll where relevant (i.e consistent salaries)
    Cool! I didn't know about the memorize function. Just out of interest, for your miscellaneous expenses or once off purchases from a "vendor" do you actually set up a vendor account and enter bills? Or do you just pass a journal entry to bank & the relevant expense account?

  7. #7
    Moderator IanF's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Jhb
    Posts
    2,679
    Thanks
    197
    Thanked 529 Times in 405 Posts
    Mark
    I kept out of this as I didn't know what the extra requirements were for partnership accounting. The package I use is econoaccounting which has features i really like. The 2 features are importation of bank statements and autoallocation. So when you import a bank statement your bank charges are automatically posted with VAT going to the vat account.
    Only stress when you can change the outcome!

  8. #8
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    22,648
    Thanks
    3,304
    Thanked 2,676 Times in 2,257 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Atkinson View Post
    Chances are I will stick to Quickbooks for the time being. It does allow for journal entries but it already has a function to transfer to partner equity/drawings accounts. The only problem with it is that it's US-based!
    You need the UK version to handle VAT easily. Until you're a VAT vendor it isn't an issue though.
    Quote Originally Posted by sterne.law@gmail.com View Post
    As to VAT, it does not matter what country wrote the software, you determine the VAT rates and when you set up items or charegs you then set the relevant VAT code. In our case 14% or 0%
    The problem with using GST based software is handling input VAT claims. You could work around it via line item entries of course, but that would be a PITA compared to software specifically written to manage a VAT regime.

  9. #9
    Platinum Member sterne.law@gmail.com's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Durban
    Posts
    1,332
    Thanks
    38
    Thanked 566 Times in 413 Posts
    Blog Entries
    7
    If you are paying cash or cheque, which would make sense as a one off - use a cash purchases vendor. Put the company name under memo, for future reference so if you look back you know what or who it was
    Anthony Sterne

    www.acumenholdings.co.za
    DISCLAIMER The above is merely a comment in discussion form and an open public arena. It does not constitute a legal opinion or professional advice in any manner or form.

  10. #10
    Gold Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Johannesburg
    Posts
    843
    Thanks
    181
    Thanked 177 Times in 146 Posts
    I have become a bit of a fan of Omni Accounts www.omniaccounts.co.za.

    SA software, so no issues with VAT. It caters nicely for it. You can also start out from as little as R500 for the package and then can add functionality as and when you need it. So the package grows with your company.

    I tried Quickbooks for a while after getting irritated with Pastel, but could not for the life of me figure out a way to easily process settlement discounts. No way was I prepared to do 100+ credit notes each month. Both Pastel and Omni cater for that quite nicely.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Why Accounting Software Cannot Replace The Accountant
    By sgafc in forum General Business Forum
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 03-Oct-23, 08:08 AM
  2. Freeware Software.
    By insulin in forum General Chat Forum
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 15-Feb-10, 04:26 PM
  3. Customisation of Tally accounting software
    By tallyguru in forum Technology Forum
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 10-Jun-08, 08:16 PM

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •